Chapter 179: Divine Mountain

Chapter 179: Divine Mountain

Various thoughts ran through Zacs head as he leveled an even stare at Sui, to the point that she quickly started to get flustered.

Im sorry, I didnt mean to surprise you. Your face and body are different, but your energy feels the same. I only know it because my class has given me some unique skills. The others dont know. I promise I wont tell, so please dont do anything drastic, she quickly explained in a hurried flurry of words.

I understand. Thank you for your discretion. You can call me David, Zac said after a while and closed his eyes, once again using the nickname he chose on the other side of the Dead Zone.

The silence might have been a bit oppressive to the Purifier because she quickly got out of the van as well as soon as she was done imbuing him with another round of energy. That left Zac alone in the van, going over what she said. In the end he felt it wasnt a big deal that she knew. If she didnt even tell those in her team she wouldnt tell anyone else.

Since he was alone for the moment he quickly took out a bunch of dried meat and stuffed himself, almost inhaling the strips made from high leveled beasts. Suis efforts was very effective in keeping the bead happy, but that alone wasnt enough. His body felt as though hed been starving for months, lacking not only energy but nourishment.

With his attributes he had an extreme metabolism, if he didnt eat a lot hed only get worse. In just seconds Zac actually managed to stuff his face with over a kilo of high-grade meat and a couple of liters of water from a canteen. After a brief hesitation he took out another flask and took a small sip from it.

It was actually extremely diluted Cosmic Water, containing roughly one percent of the high energy liquid. As it entered his body he felt the familiar burn through his pathways, but with the low amount of water it was just a small flash of warmth before it turned into Cosmic Energy.

It was the highest concentration he dared to drink at the moment, but even this mixture was harmful if imbibed to much. It did, however, give a small boost to his completely depleted reserves of Cosmic Energy, which improved his bodily functions in general.

Drinking it was partly to invigorate his body, but mainly in order to stay prepared. While Sui seemed nice enough, he didnt really trust the others. If it came to it he needed to be able to protect himself. Besides, they were still in the Dead Zone, anything could happen.

Zac would have liked to continue eating, but approaching voices told him his feast was over, so he quickly put away his Cosmos Pouch again. The trip was largely uneventful after that, as they only traveled on roads far away from civilization. They entered a sort of routine where nothing really happened apart from Sui infusing some energy into Zac every hour or so.

They never stopped driving and kept going non-stop. The only times they stopped was when they found abandoned vehicles, where they tried to salvage some leftover gas with practiced ease. It was the middle of the night when they made another such stop, and the Old man jumped out of the back of the truck with a hose and a can.

However, it didnt take long before the calm of the night was interrupted by multiple roars from zombies.

Attack! a shout from outside came, and within seconds the rest of the people in the truck were up on their feet and outside.

Zac had to admit that these people seemed to have more combat experience than even his Valkyries. Perhaps trying some recruiting in the area would be a good idea. For a second he thought about going out to help, but a quick check told him his body was in no condition yet. The energy he got from the Cosmic Water was just to keep him going at full power for a couple of seconds, and he didnt want to waste it on some mindless zombies.

Instead, he took the chance to once again replenish his body. He stuffed his face with dried meat, and once again downed it with a mouthful of diluted Cosmic Water. It was simply too hard to restore energy naturally in the Dead Zone, as most of the Cosmic Energy was converted into miasma. Taking out a bunch of crystals would be suspicious as well, leaving him with only this option.

Its okay, its nothing valuable, Zac said with a wave, before he looked at the others in the truck. You were benevolent and helped me in my time of need, so I wish you no harm. Stay away from that liquid.

Not wanting us to waste your treasure? Wang snorted. I bet youre planning to steal it back. Sorry, but it will stay with me from now on. This will be what push our squad to greatness.

Zac shook his head, not wanting to bother with the fool any longer. If he wanted to kill himself he was welcome to. Besides, the flask was nothing expensive, just a little Cosmic Water diluted in normal water. It was nothing compared to the small lake of the stuff he possessed.

Instead he closed his eyes and rested. In the end a few others tasted the water, and all marveled at its magical effects. However, the Old Man, Sui, and another man declined instead opting to slowly restore themselves with Nexus Crystals. Since they didnt take it any further or trying to frisk him for any more treasures Zac let the matter end there.

Between Suis help and his slow recuperation he was over 15% restored by now by his own account. It wasnt optimal, but it was enough to rebuff some zombie hunters if it came to that. But Zac felt that what they would go through in the future was punishment enough. He remembered how addictive the water was, it felt like one could keep going and fight forever with the stuff. But reality would catch up with them soon enough.

After the confrontation the atmosphere in the truck got quite oppressive, with no one really in the mood to speak up. Zac knew that if it wasnt for Sui he would have been attacked, or at least thrown out by now. It was lucky for him that no one wanted to anger the purifier, as it might result in their death tomorrow from lack of treatment.

Zac considered whether he should just start to bring out his meat and some crystals, and beat them up if they got greedy for his things. But in the end he gave up on the idea, as he didnt want to rock the boat. He needed to get infused by the energy from Sui, so he decided to stay put until they arrived at the monastery.

Instead they sat in silence, the hours feeling like days. Zac wasnt sure how long theyd driven, but suddenly his eyes opened due to a change in the atmosphere. The concentration of miasma was rapidly declining, to the point that it was almost gone after 20 seconds of driving.

The others in the truck sensed it as well and stretched their legs as they cracked their necks. The truck stopped only a minute later, and everyone quickly got out. This time Zac didnt stay behind, and for the first time in over a day he got up on his feet and walked out of the stuffy truck.

By now Sui had infused him over 30 times, and his body finally didnt feel like it was teetering on the brink of collapse. Even better, the air was completely free from miasma, and Zac felt his body slowly start to absorb energy to deplete his wrung out body.

With a grunt he jumped out of the truck, but he immediately froze when e looked at the area, and he couldnt help but gape in awe. As he looked around it almost felt like he was in a dream, standing on the foot of Mount Meru.

The sky was an intense blue, the gloomy clouds of the Dead Zone just a distant memory. The surroundings were draped Lush greenery, with rice paddies covering most of the base of a towering mountain that rose to the skies. The fields were tended by at least a hundred monks, dressed in simple kasayas, and it was easy to forget that they were surrounded by zombies from the pastoral scenery.

The greenery actually stopped some ways up the mountain, being replaced by sheer walls and cliffs. More amazingly the mountain itself was almost completely covered text, huge letters leaving barely any surfaces unaltered.

It was not the fractals of the system or any foreign species Zac knew from a glance. He was by no means an expert in the area, but he was pretty sure it was some sort of Indian text, likely Sanskrit as it was a Buddhistic mountain.

However, Zac had never heard of something like this magical mountain before the integration. Engraving a whole mountain was an unfathomable undertaking, and the carvings would have made it world renown. So Zac could only guess that the engravings were added after the world got integrated, which made sense since something like this should be a lot easier when ones attributes had improved.

More surprisingly he felt that the Sanskrit wasnt just decoration, as there were hints of power in the letters. They held a subdued but intractable strength, making Zac even doubt he could cause a crack in the stones. Together they formed something unfathomable giving the whole mountain almost a divine aura.